The Best Ab Exercises

One question that every personal training has been asked is, "what is the best ab exercise I can do?" As with most answers you will receive from a personal training you will hear it depends. This really is true. It depends on what exactly you are looking to accomplish. Are you trying to get a stronger core for a sport? Do you want a six pack? Are you trying to improve back pain because of a weak core?

You can start to see how this becomes a tough question for a trainer to answer. Regardless of your goal however you core musculature needs to be trained. There are two types of core exercises that you can do. Both are necessary for any type of goal. These are core stabilization and core mobility exercises. First, you need to master core stabilization exercises. These are exercise where stress is placed on the abdominals and other core muscles but the spine does not move. It is the goal of these types of exercises to learn to use your core to prevent your spine from movement. One of my favorite "ab" exercises is a core stabilization exercise called the spiderman mountain climber.



Core Mobility exercises are those in which you actually have your spine move. These are your more traditional ab exercises such as sit ups, crunches, and twisting. With these and all core exercises the more body parts your can incorporate the better. Total body ab exercises will work the core the way it was meant to be trained and will burn more calories. For example Burpees may not seem like an ab exercise but when performed correctly they will work the abs as well as many other body parts.

Having Trouble Losing Weight?

If you have been dieting and exercising and not seeing the results you want it can be very frustrating. Sometimes it is very hard to determine what the cause is for such slow or no results. If this sounds like you check out your weekends.

A study conducted at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that study subjects on diet and exercise programs lose weight slowly because they eat more on the weekends. The original purpose of the study was to put individuals on a low calorie restricted diet to see the effects on aging and disease.

Participants were followed for one year with their diet and exercise program. They found a consistent trend that subjects would increase their calories and not lose any weight or even gain weight over the weekends.

Without a diet and exercise plan it would have lead to an increase in an average of 9lbs per year. So sometimes going 1 year and not gaining any weight is a successful year. This shows how hard it can be to actually lose weight, even with an exercise program.

Keep working hard.

Mike
www.sandiegopremiertraining.com

Are You Insane?

Albert Einstein once said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." I think most individuals that workout are pretty much insane. Why do we do the same thing over and over and assume that we will get better results if we keep doing it. Bottom line is something has to change. Whether it is your diet, exercise routine, or sleeping patterns something needs to be different or you will not see any new results. Here are common statements I hear. If they sounds common take my recommendations to finally get results.

1. "I have tried everything and nothing works."

No you haven't tried everything. If you have you would be where you want to be. Most likely you tried a few things for a week or so, didn't see the results, the results weren't fast enough, or you couldn't stick with it for long enough. Whatever program you go on, give it a chance. Stick with something for at least 3 months before giving up. There is a program out there for everyone it is just a matter of finding it and staying with it.

2. "I eat really healthy and still can't lose weight"

You may be eating healthy but you can gain weight eating the healthiest food on the planet. You may have a problem with portion size. Usually when someone makes this statement I have a hard time truly believing them. If you really did eat healthy you would not have a weight problem. Be honest with yourself. If you wrote down your diet everyday for a month and gave it to me would you still say you ate healthy? Maybe you are just confused with what healthy eating is and need to speak with a professional to help you.

3. "I work my abs everyday and cannot see a six pack"

Your abs are just like every other muscle in the body. They need a day or two to fully recover from a workout. You wouldn't training your legs or arms everyday so there is no need to train your abs everyday. Also, just because you do abdominal exercises doesn't mean you will lose fat over your stomach. You will burn calories from all over your body regardless of what exercise you do. Everyone is different with where the majority of fat comes from. It eventually will get to your stomach though so keep working. If you can't see your six pack you need to lose fat not do crunches. Concentrate on diet and increasing overall activity. Once you get the hang of that you will start to see definition.

Mike
www.sandiegopremiertraining.com

Burning Calories

I often get the question, "How many calories am I burning during this workout?" Unfortunately I don't have an exact number. No one will. Even if you have a heart rate monitor or Body Bug it is all estimation. Even though it is not exact it will get us in the ball park to estimate it. One site I often use to calculate calories burned is http://www.caloriesperhour.com/. You can choose from a large list of activities from vigorous weight training to digging worms (it is on there). This will give you an idea of how many calories you will burn for a given workout. Knowing approximately how many calories you are burning give you an idea of how long it will take to lose weight. If you burn 300 calories each time you workout for 5 days that is 1500 calories. It takes 3500 calories to lose a pound of fat. Now I can determine how long it would take to lose 1 pound if I was eating at my metabolic rate. At this rate it would take about 2 weeks to lose 1 pound.

After exercise we do burn extra calories from our workout too. During exercise we are using energy and oxygen supplies which all need to be restored. This means our metabolism will remain elevated hours after we finished working out. The length of this increase will depend on the intensity. To get an idea you can take the calories burned during the workout and multiply it by .15. So if we burned 300 calories in our workout then we can expect an additional 45 calories burned through this raised metabolism. It is not a huge number but can add up if you are exercising often. The number will increase as the intensity increases.

Mike
www.sandiegopremiertraining.com

What Supplements Should I Be Taking?

The supplement industry has grown into a multi billion dollar industry. With everyone looking for the next best thing, people will spend a large sum of money testing different supplements. For the most part you are pretty much throwing your money away. Usually you are spending your money on good marketing techniques. If you are just starting a workout routine there is really no need to take any supplements. Maybe a multivitamin but that is probably it unless your doctor has prescribed something for you already. Workout and eat a healthy diet and you will get the results you are looking for. Every now and then we all need a little push or extra motivation to keep going. This is where some supplements will help. Supplements should only be used to either stick to a program or to help get a little extra out of your workout. No supplement out there will melt away fat and build muscle without the workout and diet. Anything legal at least. This brings me to my next point. If all of these supplements really worked then they would be illegal for athletes. If you gained that much of an edge by taking a specific supplement they would be banned in the sporting world. The reason most supplements are not banned is because they don't really do that much. Some will help give you a better workout but do not expect amazing results by taking a supplement. If you want to try a supplement out stick to the basics. Here are a few that have had some good studies showing some positive results:

1. Whey and Casein Protein Blend
2. Creatine
3. Beta Alanine
4. Caffeine

There are more supplements out there that have some benefit but these are just a few basic ones that may be considered in you are trying to improve your workouts. Never count on a supplement to get you to your goal. Anyone that says it will is lying. Your workouts and diet are getting the results you want, not the supplements. If taking a supplement will help you workout harder or eat better than it is worth considering.

Mike

www.sandiegopremiertraining.com

Boot Camp Classes

If you leave near the beach you will notice more and more beach boot camp classes coming up. They are even filling up local parks and gyms as well. If you have never experienced how of these classes I highly recommend trying it out. They are not for everyone but are worth a shot. Boot camp classes will combine high intense cardio exercises mixed with strength exercises. Most exercises will include body weight or partners but often times addition equipment such as medicine balls, resistance bands, and kettlebells will be used. Boot Camp style classes are great for a few of the following:
1. Burn a ton of calories in a short period of time.
2. Workout outside and away from the gym.
3. Avoid boredom with nontraditional exercises and activities.
4. Meet individuals with similar fitness interests.

Whether you are looking to lose 50lbs, just tone up alittle, or build more muscle you will find boot camps to be very beneficial. Change up your routine by adding a boot camp class in once or twice a week.

Here is a clip from one of my beach classes:


Mike
www.sandiegopremiertraining.com

Effective Planning Gets Better Results

We often associate plateaus with strength training. This means you are stagnant in your routine and aren't noticing improvements in muscle strength, size, or weight. We can also hit plateaus with cardio as well. We get stuck in a routine and do not see the same benefits that we use to. One thing that most people will not do with an exercise program, whether it is their cardio or strength routine, is plan ahead. We are usually only concerned with the now. This is one reason so many people drop out of a program. Just like most things in life you need a strategy. Going to the gym and hopping on the treadmill until you get tired is not going to work. You may be able to do it for awhile, but without structure you are not going to see any progress. Look at your workout routine you are doing right now. Can you even look at it? Is it written down somewhere or do you just walk in to the gym and do whatever you feel like? Write down your program and how long you plan on doing it for. It is easier to work in shorter bursts. If I know I am going to do a specific routine for 1 month I am more likely to stick with it. Here are two things you need to do for your cardio routine to get better results and to be more likely to stick with it:

1. Be specific with your workouts.
Don't go into a workout without know exactly what you will be doing. The easiest way to do this is the F.I.T.T. principle. This means you the Frequency (how many days per week), Intensity (usually a percentage of your max heart rate), Time (how long you will be working), and Type (what form of cardio you are doing). Set your goals up before your workout so you know what you are shooting for.

2. Periodize your program.
Once you set up your FITT workouts you need to adjust them progressively. This means every 4-6 weeks you adjust one or more of the variables. For example maybe you started with 3 days of week so now you will bump it up to 4. You might increase the intensity on one of the days and decrease the time. You can literally make hundreds of easy adjustments to make a different cardio workout.

Stick to these two principles for your cardio workouts and you will be seeing faster and better results. You can try this with your strength training as well.

Mike
www.sandiegopremiertraining.com